Despite reading loads of documentation and SO threads, I just can’t make my tvOS app focus change while using the keyboard on the tvOS simulator.

Used config: XCode 15, tvOS 17

Starting point: on the simulator home screen, I can use the arrow keys and the return key to navigate and launch apps.

I just have a simple app with 3 horizontally aligned sprites, and I’d like the arrow keys to navigate between them.

View Controller:

class GameViewController: UIViewController {
    
    // overriding preferredFocusEnvironments to return [scene] doesn't change anything

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        if let view = self.view as! SKView? {
            // Load the SKScene from 'GameScene.sks'
            if let scene = SKScene(fileNamed: "GameScene") {
                // Set the scale mode to scale to fit the window
                scene.scaleMode = .aspectFill
                
                /* set or unset doesn't change anything
                scene.focusBehavior             = .focusable
                scene.isUserInteractionEnabled  = true
                */

                // Present the scene
                view.presentScene(scene)
            }
        }
    }
    
    
    override func pressesBegan(_ presses: Set<UIPress>, with event: UIPressesEvent?) {
        print("EVT- press began in controller")
    }
    
    override func pressesChanged(_ presses: Set<UIPress>, with event: UIPressesEvent?) {
        print("EVT- press changed in controller")
    }
    
    override func pressesEnded(_ presses: Set<UIPress>, with event: UIPressesEvent?) {
        print("EVT- press ended in controller")
    }
    
    override func touchesBegan(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
        print("EVT- touch began in controller")
    }
    
    override func touchesMoved(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
        print("EVT- touches moved in controller")
    }
    
    override func touchesEnded(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
        print("EVT- touches ended in controller")
    }
}

Scene class:

class GameScene: SKScene {
    
    private var button1 : MySpriteNode!
    private var button2 : MySpriteNode!
    private var button3 : MySpriteNode!
    
    //Stef: overriden or not doens't make a difference
//    override var preferredFocusEnvironments: [UIFocusEnvironment] {
//        return [button1, button2, button3]
//    }
    
    
    override func didUpdateFocus(in context: UIFocusUpdateContext, with coordinator: UIFocusAnimationCoordinator) {
        //Stef: called after the didUpdateFocus of the buttons
        print("GameScene::didUpdateFocus")
        print("FOC- Focus is now: (UIScreen.main.focusedItem)")
    }
    
    
    private var label : SKLabelNode?
    private var spinnyNode : SKShapeNode?
    
    override func didMove(to view: SKView) {
        
        self.button1 = self.childNode(withName: "//sprite1") as? MySpriteNode
        self.button1.isUserInteractionEnabled   = true  //set or unset doesn't make a difference
        self.button2 = self.childNode(withName: "//sprite2") as? MySpriteNode
        self.button2.isUserInteractionEnabled   = true
        self.button3 = self.childNode(withName: "//sprite3") as? MySpriteNode
        self.button3.isUserInteractionEnabled   = true
        
        self.isUserInteractionEnabled = true    //set or unset doesn't make a difference
        //  self.becomeFirstResponder() doesn't make any difference
    }
}

Sprite node:

class MySpriteNode: SKSpriteNode {

    override var canBecomeFocused: Bool {
        true
    }

    override var isUserInteractionEnabled: Bool {
        get { true }
        set { }
    }

    override var focusBehavior: SKNodeFocusBehavior {
        get { .focusable }
        set { }
    }

    override func didUpdateFocus(in context: UIFocusUpdateContext, with coordinator: UIFocusAnimationCoordinator) {

        print("SKSpriteNode::didUpdateFocus")
        
        if context.previouslyFocusedItem === self {
            print("FOC- Leaving (self.name!)")
            self.resignFirstResponder()
        }

        if context.nextFocusedItem === self {
             // SKAction to run focus animation for focused button
            print("FOC- Entering (self.name!)")
            self.becomeFirstResponder()
            printResponderChain(from: self)
        }
    }
    
    override func touchesBegan(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
        print("EVT- touch began in sprite")
    }

    override func touchesEnded(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
        print("EVT- (self.name!) touched")
    }
    
    override func pressesEnded(_ presses: Set<UIPress>, with event: UIPressesEvent?) {
        print("EVT- (self.name!) pressed")
    }
}

Whatever I do, I always get the same console logs:

SKSpriteNode::didUpdateFocus
FOC- Entering sprite1
Resp: <SKSpriteNode> name:'sprite1' texture:['nil'] position:{-348.35546875, 220.66392517089844} scale:{1.00, 0.37} size:{100, 37.421669006347656} anchor:{0.5, 0.5} rotation:0.00
GameScene::didUpdateFocus
FOC- Focus is now: Optional(<SKSpriteNode> name:'sprite1' texture:['nil'] position:{-348.35546875, 220.66392517089844} scale:{1.00, 0.37} size:{100, 37.421669006347656} anchor:{0.5, 0.5} rotation:0.00)
void * _Nullable NSMapGet(NSMapTable * _Nonnull, const void * _Nullable): map table argument is NULL

I also get a bunch of warnings like this:

Using legacy initializer -[UIFocusRegion initWithFrame:] for region <_UIFocusItemRegion: 0x600001762780> - if this region is initialized by a client, please move over to using the UIFocusItem API. If this region is coming from UIKit, this is a UIKit bug.

As stated by the warning, looks like a UIKit bug.

That shows that Sprite 1 gets the focus, but when I use the arrow keys, the other ones never ever get the focus.

I have tried 3 or 4 Open Source packages, they all date from 2017, and none of them work, I never succeed in having the arrow key to navigate the focus.

What’s the catch ?
Am I missing something huge ?